Instant reactions: Konecny’s two goals, Ersson’s BEST game of season ends Flyers’ losing streak

Watch PHLY Flyers Postgame

The Philadelphia Flyers didn’t play a flawless, A+ game on Monday night against the Vegas Golden Knights. Philly took seven penalties and only managed 17 shots against Adin Hill.

But a pair of Travis Konecny breakaway goals, including the short-handed game-winner, were enough on a night Sam Ersson finally stepped up with his best performance (24/25, .960) of this season. The Flyers needed some of their veterans to take control and bring an end to their six-game losing streak (0-5-1), and they got exactly what they needed from TK and Ersson.

First period

Highlight: Travis Konecny’s breakaway goal after a Tomas Hertl turnover at the Flyers’ blue line gave the Flyers a rare 1-0 lead, but the highlight may have really been Sam Ersson. The struggling Ersson stopped all 11 Vegas shots on goal, including an undefended redirect attempt in front, and a couple of power play chances. If Ersson can continue this level of play, the Flyers have a chance tonight.

What I want to see next period: Please stop taking penalties. Matvei Michkov got whistled for goalie interference with 19 seconds left in the period when he just skated into the blue paint and tripped Adin Hill. Pure carelessness. And that was Philly’s third minor of the period. Christian Dvorak needed to hold Tanner Laczynski for some reason, and Denver Barkey wasn’t responsible enough with his stick and caught Jack Eichel up high. Just f’n stop with the penalties.

Second period

Highlight: The Flyers killed what was left of the Michkov penalty, and held the Knights without a shot for the first 10:20 of the period. But it was another penalty that allowed Vegas to tie the game after what was otherwise another strong showing from Ersson. This time Noah Cates was the guilty party, tripping Ben Hutton in the offensive zone to give Vegas their fourth power play of the game with just under two minutes left in the middle frame. Tomas Hertl netted the game-tying goal with 32 seconds left in the period, getting his stick on a puck thrown in front by Jack Eichel from the half-wall.

What I want to see next period: Be aggressive offensively. Don’t hope to go to overtime 1-1. Play to win in regulation. The Flyers haven’t won a game in nearly two weeks. They’re playing relatively well against a legitimate Stanley Cup contender. PUSH!

Third period

Highlight: Konecny’s second breakaway goal, this one while killing a Travis Sanheim cross-checking minor with the score tied, was the game-winning highlight, but once again, Ersson stopping all seven shots he faced in the third was huge as well.

Final note: It didn’t matter how, the Flyers just needed to win a game and they did. Now, they can focus on actually playing a lot better. They need to cut down on the stick penalties. It’s getting ridiculous. They need to get back to generating scoring chances and actual goals like they did in December. Their special teams need to be competent more than once a month. If this team wants to be taken seriously, and be more than a team on the Eastern Conference bubble because that’s where everyone is, they need to use this as a springboard. But for tonight, hell yeah, the losing streak is over and that makes me feel good.

Watch PHLY Flyers Postgame